FDIC Suffers 'Inadvertent' Data Breach

A former FDIC employee accidentally triggered a major breach exposing data of 44,000 customers.

A major data breach at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) exposed the records of 44,000 customers, according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post.

The breach happened in late February when the data records were accidentally downloaded to a personal device by a former employee, who had legitimate access to the data. The memo specified no information regarding what kind of data was downloaded, but stated that no sensitive data had been compromised or disseminated, The Washington Post said.

The employee left FDIC on February 26, but the agency realized three days later that the data had been taken. An FDIC spokeswoman confirmed to the Post that the former employee has signed an affidavit specifying no breached information was used in any form.

In a letter written to FDIC last week, Rep. Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, called the breach “troubling” and asked for more information about it. “The potential for a breach is especially heightened when sensitive information for over 44,000 individuals is stored without proper security measures,” Smith said in the letter.

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